The Legendary Disciples is a manga based game that will follow the characters from the levels of a fledgling martial artist to a true master of their respective Tao. Watch as the players are taken in by the Legendary Masters, some of the most powerful warriors in History, taught the ways of Martial Arts and prepared for a prophecy that only the Masters know.

War is felt throughout the land and though the common people couldn't tell you who this war is between, the bodies of Daimyos and peasants alike tell them this is no simple clan war. Rumors abound of the Emperor unleashing His most feared enforcers, the Four Dragons, to restore order. Whatever this war is, it is already evident that it will rock the very foundations of the Japanese Empire. And as for what side will win? That decision lays at the feet of the Legendary Disciples!

The Proposal wrote:I'd like to try my hand at running a game here on the boards. I'm fairly experienced running tabletop games, but running a PbP will be a new experience.

The Game Proposal: This would be a Manga themed, fantasy, martial arts game. Inspirations include History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Hajime no Ippo, Avatar the Last Airbender, and Fairytail.

The beginning of the game would be broken up into two stages. The Prelude stage, your character is just a PL 4 average joe, at this point they can either be a student of martial arts or not. Maybe he's a novice samurai preparing to defend his home from a mysterious enemy, maybe he's a street urchin just trying to scrape by, or maybe your current master has taught all he can and is taking you on a journey to your new dojo. Regardless of the beginning of your story, one of the Legendary Masters (Master Chin, Master Kunai, and Master Tenzen) take notice of you and bring you to the Dojo of the Sacred Way. After that, the game ends its prelude and at the beginning of Chapter 1 the fruits of your training begin to show as you jump from PL 4 to PL 8.

In this game there are three overarching Character paths.

The Tao of the Fist: Just like it sounds, characters on this path rely on their hands and feet to get the job done.

The Tao of the Blade: Again no suprises, this path is for characters seeking the wisdom of the weapon. Whether it be a Kunai or a Zanbatou, you would follow this path.

The Tao of the Mage: Chi Magic works differently from other magic (think Shujenga from LO5R or D&D). Magic in this game would be based on the Four Elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water). At the beginning of the game you would be limited to one element and you can either completely master that element or move on to learning other elements. The one limitation is you cannot learn your opposing element, Water can't learn fire, Earth can't learn wind, etc.Void Magic: Was a magic inventing by the First Emperor Akira I and only usable by those of his direct bloodline. It is the power to bend reality, usually beginning with the ability to move objects according to your will (Telekinesis), it also includes the power to create matter (create object) or utterly remove it from existence (disintegrate). Unfortunately, in inventing this magic Akira stole power from the Void Dragon and the dragon furiously cursed Akira and his descendants to be vulnerable to the weapons of their commoners (total -5pp drawback, PM me if you want to build a Void Mage and I'll tell you what the drawback is).

Note: I'd rather keep the number of Void Mages among the PCs to one, so a PC submitting a Void Mage is welcome to submit another character.

Each of you would take a mentor depending on your particular path.The mentors are as follows:

Tao of the Fist: The Enigmatic Superman, Master ChinTao of the Blade: The Shinigami of the Blade, Master KunaiTao of the Mage: The Kami of the Ways, Master Tenzen

Though your masters are powerful, they have a strict code of noninterference when it comes to their disciple's fights. They have their pride as martial artists and teachers after all. All of you live and eat together at the dojo (after the prelude). After a few months of heavytraining (done in a montage) you leap from PL 4 to PL 8 (120pp). After that power progression would be fairly fast. Another thing to note is you would not become clones of your masters. You are expected to develop your own way within Martial Arts, the Masters seek only to guide you.

Tone: Out of combat the tone would be be fairly light, even comical, still leaving room for philosophical discussion on the proper use of power. But as with any good Shounen manga, combat would get increasingly serious, forcing the characters to mature as their foes get more ruthless and powerful.

Setting: Fantasy Japan, imaginary cities and locations exist, as do the real ones. For historical reference we'd be at about the TL and time of the Edo era. Kami, demons, and dragons regularly interact with humans, so a half demon character is not out of the question (just in case someone has a craving to play Inuyasha ). Magic is not prevalent but a village usually has at least one Chi Wizard. Excorists, priests, everything you see in a manga set in feudal Japan you'll see in this game.

The Cast: NiuKoma KagutsuchiKeiji TanakaEriko 'Jade' MidoriMarika

Last edited by Corin on Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:06 pm, edited 7 times in total.

I may be the biggest Hajimi no Ippo fan in the state of Texas and it doesn't have a lot in common with the other examples but my interest is still peeked. If you decide to take this further than an interest check I'll submit a character.

"When they ask how I died, tell them: still angry." - Quellcrist Falconer

I'm not entirely sure if this is something I'd commit, since I'm honestly not the biggest Martial Arts hero style based person, but if I may offer a piece of advice, wait for more than a day before you make decisions. Most interest based threads last for roughly a week, maybe more.

Not asking you to reveal your storyline.... but will they just primarily be fighting each other, Sparring match style, or will they have some cooperative quest to go on? I have a waterbender student character I'm interested in playing again.

Well there will of course be some pickup sparring matches (Mentors bragging about their students to each other, it happens), but the main focus will be the cooperative quest. There is a war going on at the time of the game (you'd find out more IC), though near the beginning you'll probably dealing with small time issues (bandits and such).

Oooh, this looks awesome. I'm interested. Running a game isn't as time-consuming as I thought, so I should be able to have time for this as well.I'm a bit sad you aren't going with the Chinese version with five elements though, as metal chi magic would be fun to play with.Would it be possible to play a student that discovers a very strong affinity to another form, and so changes teachers or studies under two teachers?

There is in fact a 5th element called Void magic, PM me if you want details.

Short answer to your question is yes. You aren't necessarily locked with one mentor. A student could be a trainee of Master Chin and then decide he wanted to up his stance power using Earth Magic, then he could go to Master Tenzen for training. It depends on what developement Players want to see in their characters.

I'm interested in the idea, but I honestly don't know if I'll have the time. I'm in five games, one of which is in a bit of limbo. ^_^ But yeah, expression of interest. I have a hojojutsu build that would be interesting to try to update.

I realize I'm getting way ahead of myself... but for character concept, I'm thinking a lost kin of the Akira family. He always hides in a flowing cloak to avoid accidental contact. Until he is trained by the masters, he passes himself off as a wandering swordsman, relying on his weapon's magic rather than skill, and letting the cloak hide his young age. As he receives training, he will train primarily for chi magic, but will make a point to learn how to use his chi and skill to also improve the effectiveness of his katana and to defend himself from attack.